Anatomy of poor customer service…

The resins are truly taking over. Here pictured with my 2 Latis is a MSD sized little girl from Luts. She’s a Kid Delf Bory. I’ve named her Kino after the anime Kino’s Journey. I did the face-up on her and again fussed over the eyebrows quite a bit. I’m finally going to leave them alone and she’s really a cutie. She’s the big sister to the tinies.

So in my title I mention about poor customer service. I had a pretty lousy transaction with an online seller who shall remain nameless. But I will be happy to divulge this information to anyone that asks privately. I decided to track down some Olsen twin dolls hoping to find a body similar to Blythe that could take the special spray paint I got to make a black Blythe. I avoided eBay and went with some unknown through another site that had a collection of online antique stores. The dolls were $6.00 and domestic shipping was $9.00 . Yes that’s right- 2 dolls that come to about 9 oz and they were charging more than the dolls themselves and more than double the actual cost to ship the dolls. What’s more, they didn’t ship it priority mail which would have cost them about $5.00. They state on their site they ship insured parcel post. Well, I finally found out they didn’t ship it insured either. If they shipped it first class package rate it would have cost them $2.70. I’m guessing they shipped it for $2.70.

Now, I know I went in and bought the items knowing the shipping was inflated but I compared it with other sites so I went for it. And that would have been fine if I actually received the package. But it’s a month later and it’s a no show. So that’s when I start to get more than a little annoyed that they charged so much for shipping. When they can’t even shell out the extra 14 cents for delivery confirmation I start to lose sympathy when they give me excuses that they’re trying to recoup their losses in paypal fees, listing fees, inventory fees ect… And I’m no stranger to incurring these fees myself. But what really pushed me over the edge to where I finally filed a paypal claim was their lack of responses to my questions. 2 weeks after I made the purchase I finally contacted them. I asked for a tracking number I think 3 different times and heard nothing. Out of the 5 times I attempted to contact them they responded 3 times. 2 of those 3 times was AFTER I filed the claim. So they had no choice but to refund me. What’s really hilarious is they said they hoped I learned a lesson in shopping with them. I laughed out loud at that response. Yes, I learned more about poor customer service. Thanks! ðŸ˜‰

So here’s the lesson for the rest of us sellers that strive to give excellent customer service. Don’t try to pad your shipping cost so much just because your other fees are cutting into your profit margins. If you’re going to add handling fees then you sure as heck better make sure the customer gets their package and send it with a tracking number so if it does get lost, you can show the customer you sent it and you’re not some fly by night scammer. I’m not going to wait around guessing whether it was really sent or not. I don’t have a crystal ball and I don’t expect my customers to have a crystal ball either and just take my word for it.

If a customer asks questions no matter how stupid and how much you think it is a waste of your time, answer them! And answer them professionally. This seller didn’t act professional in the least. I asked for tracking numbers, I expect a response one way or the other. I didn’t find out there was never a tracking number until after I filed the claim with paypal. That’s a little too late to respond to my questions don’t you think?

Naturally this seller thinks I’m one of those difficult avoid at all costs customers and she made no bones in letting me know that. Again, I had to laugh. I’ve done so many online transactions and have met so many wonderful people both sellers and buyers from all over the world. This is the first deal that went sour. I can say one thing for certain. She doesn’t have to worry about ever getting business from me again. If this seller continues to run business this way I won’t be the only problem customer she’ll ever run across and want to avoid.

And that’s all from the trenches of dolly land. I know all of us doll collectors-especially of the Asian doll variety are quite versed in internet shopping and weighing costs of shipping, exchange fees, reliability of overseas sellers ect… Here’s to more savvy shopping and may you never run accross problem sellers with poor business practices and very poor customer service!

2 Comments on “Anatomy of poor customer service…”

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